This invention is referenced throughout this document as an attached extendable ladder that has been specifically designed for the sole purpose of giving people a better, safer, easier, form of ascending to the roof of their recreational vehicle, more commonly known as RV, motor home or trailer. As used herein a ladder has different meanings, as in a step, stairs, folding ladders of different sizes, telescoping ladders, extension ladders and others. Ladders are being used to reach many different heights from changing a light bulb, reaching in a high cabinet, climbing onto a house roof or onto the roof of an RV. There are short household ladders, folding step ladders, extendable ladders and telescoping ladders, all of which are not connected at the top making them unsafe, unstable and ultimately leaving them prone to falling over sideways. They all serve the same purpose, but a ladder or extendable ladder is always set up with the lower end of the ladder on the ground, a floor or any other firm surface. Extendable ladders have the lower section on the ground, and the upper end leaning against a wall, building, or the side of a recreational vehicle at an angle of approximately 23 degrees. Stairs are usually about 45 degrees and affixed at the top whereas ladders are not, which in most cases make extendable ladders very vulnerable to falling over sideways. This happens often when used along side of an RV.
This invention has been designed to overcome this dangerous problem for RV owners and give them a safer, easier, less stressful means of ascending to the roof of their RV. This invention provides a pivoting mounted apparatus at the top of the attached RV ladder to affix a new extendable ladder that gives complete support for a climber when the lower section of the ladder is extended to the ground or a flat surface. This apparatus includes two hinge brackets #14 and two pivot bushings #20 that are the primary parts in providing a solid foundation for attaching the extendable ladder to the top of the RV attached ladder. Frequently there is a need to use the ladder that is permanently attached to the back of an RV, however the ladder has horizontally short narrow rungs and small round hand rails that make it hard to grasp onto, it's a 90 degree vertical ladder that gives a person the feeling of falling off backwards due to the force of gravity a person feels when climbing straight up. People have been known to fall off backwards. What is not available till now is this invention that provides a properly designed extendable ladder that is firmly attached to the top of an RV ladder that has been permanently attached to the back end of all RV's. This extendable ladder being connected to the top of the affixed RV ladder creates a bond for a sturdy, strong, and safe ladder that eliminates the hazards of falling over sideways. It will be a great public convenience and safety to have available a safe ladder such as this on the back of an RV. Conventional RV ladders do not reach below the height of the vehicle bumper which is relatively high off the ground, about 18 to 20 inches, making it hard for a person to reach the first rung of the ladder, therefore people use unsafe stools or other apparatus to reach that first step. This invention when extended, reaches to the ground level making it very easy for a person to climb to the roof of their RV. Many RV's have roof storage, there are roof vents, and attached air conditioners that require routine maintenance. Many people such as NASCAR enthusiasts frequently climb to the RV roof to watch races.
According to a professional search, examples of some prior art that gives reference to ladders for recreational vehicles are: U.S. Pat. No. 7,721,849 B2 to Graff, This apparatus has many parts that need to be attached to a flat surface by someone of mechanical experience and using several tools to do so, it recommends being attached to the side of a vehicle and this could very well interfere with the drivers rear view mirror. For a truck or some other vehicle of sort that does not already have a ladder for access to a roof it may be considered, for a motor home that has a ladder similar to this type already attached to the back, it would not be appealing because an RV owner would give little or no consideration to removing the vehicle attached ladder and be left with holes to patch on the back of their expensive RV. This apparatus does not attach to the top of the RV roof to give it the additional support it would need, such as that of the attached RV ladder. This apparatus does not reach to ground level making it difficult to reach the first step of an RV which is usually about 18 to 20 inches. U.S. Pat. No. 7,066,299 B1 to Fleming, This apparatus has some good features about it but here again it is not designed for a specific vehicle such as a motor home or trailer. Most RV owners would not be open to the idea of removing their attached ladder to replace it with another ladder. Though it does swing out at the bottom it does not reach ground level therefore leaving a high distance of 18 to 20 inches to the first rung which would require some sort of step stool or other apparatus to reach the first step. When it is removed it only makes another form of folding ladder that does not provide for a better or safer way of ascending to the roof of an RV. U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,545 to Faleide, This apparatus does not extend to the ground level for solid support and it requires some sort of apparatus to reach the first step of this ladder, the upper portion does not reach the top of an RV or a truck and there are no handrails at that level, therefore making it all but impossible to step upon the roof of any vehicle. It does not have a good appearance, it looks cumbersome and it would require a person of mechanical background to install it. For use on an RV a person would need to remove the attached RV ladder and that would leave holes to repair. All of this would be very unappealing to an RV owner. U.S. Pat. No. 8,215,452, B2 to Stewart. This apparatus requires many tools and a person of much mechanical expertise to install it, it has many parts that would require mounting holes to attach it, for RV use it would require the removal of the attached RV ladder leaving unsightly holes to repair, all of this would be very unappealing to an RV owner. This apparatus is unappealing to look at, it looks cumbersome. When extended upward there are no hand rails that connect up and over the edge of the roof top therefore making it very difficult to step upon the roof of any vehicle and this is most important for a persons stability. U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,654 B1 to Ziaylek, This apparatus has reasonable design however it appears to be very flimsy, it has very small hand rails, the upper portion that attaches to the roof has no height to allow for a person to hold onto when reaching the top of the RV roof, it reaches below the vehicle bumper but it does not make contact with the ground surface and this is necessary to give a secure feeling when stepping upon it, and the rungs appear to be narrow. Attaching this apparatus to the back of a motor home or trailer would require removing the attached RV ladder leaving unsightly holes to be repaired on the back of an expensive RV, all of which would be very unappealing to RV owners.
All of the above are intended to provide some form of access for a person to climb upon the roof of an RV, but they do not provide easy access, they are complicated to install and the biggest issue an RV owner will have with all of them is the factory affixed ladder on the back of their expensive RV would have to be removed leaving unsightly holes to be repaired thereby making it very unappealing to all RV owners. None of these patents illustrate the idea of using an existing RV ladder as a sturdy foundation for mounting an extendable pivoting ladder such as this invention does. This extendable ladder invention has no downward weight or pressure put upon the hinge bracket assembly because the ladder itself functions the same as a normal extension ladder when it is extended to the ground. The only pressure put upon the stainless steel hinge bracket is a slight amount of horizontal force against the firm solid RV ladder and back panel of the RV while a person climbs the ladder. It can not be stated enough how much this invention can make life safer, easier and less stressful for all RV owners.